2023 News & Events
The news and events listed are a sample of EDI related activities to take place in the UCD College of Science. Information on events throughout the university can be found on the UCD EDI website event calendar (opens in new window).
9 November - 7 December 2023: Lunchtime Drop-in Mindfulness Meditation Sessions
Join Aoife Fitzgerald for lunchtime drop-in mindfulness meditation sessions. This will be a chance to bring some mindfulness into your working week. Suitable for those with even a small bit of mindfulness experience who are looking to renew their practice. Starting on Thursday November 9 - December 7, 2023. The drop-in sessions will run for 5 weeks every Thursday from 1.15pm - 1.45pm. No need to book, just show up. More information is available on the UCD in the Community website (opens in new window).
7 December 2023: In a Nutshell...Disability and Neurodiversity Inclusion in UCD
Join UCD Disability Subgroup and UCD Neurodiversity Group for a celebratory event to mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This event will showcase projects, research, and supports available in UCD for disabled and neurodivergent employees. Speakers will have 5 minutes to share their area of expertise, a project or research on disability and neurodiversity inclusion in UCD. Book your place via the EDI website (opens in new window).
4 December 2023: Culturally Responsive Mentoring Postdoctoral Coffee Meetups
Following the success of the Culturally Responsive Mentoring Postdoctoral Coffee Meetups that took place for postdocs in the College of Science over summer 2023, the College of Science EDI Committee and the Culturally Responsive Mentoring team are keeping the momentum alive with a new rotating coffee morning for postdocs in the College. Every two months during the 2023-24 academic term, a different school in the college will host postdocs from across the college for informal mentoring and light refreshments. Read more.
28 November 2023: UCD Community Choir Rehearsals
All current & retired staff are welcome. No experience is necessary. More information is available on the UCD Events Calendar (opens in new window).
20 November 2023: Transgender Day of Remembrance
Students and staff from the College of Science were invited to join UCD LGBTI Staff Network to observe Transgender Day of Remembrance together in the Quad Room of the Student Centre. This event is organised by UCD LGBTQI+ Staff Network and supported by UCD Chaplaincy. You can learn more about the supports available for trans students and staff at on the UCD Science EDI webpage.
19 November 2023: International Men's Day
UCD Chemistry PhD students are raising funds for men’s health in honour of International Men's Day. Further information is available on their (opens in a new window)event page (opens in new window).
9 November 2023: Share your views at the Athena Swan Silver Application Consultation World Cafe
Employees of all genders, across all equality grounds, were invited to join on Thursday, 9 November from 12-2pm in the Astra Hall for a consultation event. All involvement was vital to ensure that the next action plan for UCD is inclusive and addresses employees' needs from a gender and broader equality perspective. We were delighted to welcome Dr Salo me Mbugua as our keynote speaker.
7 & 13 November 2023: Inclusive Recruitment - Managing Bias Training
Managing Bias training was available on 7 &13 November for those involved in recruitment and selection. Find out more about the bundle on the EDI website (opens in new window).
2 November 2023: UCD LGBTQIA+ Community Get-Together
On Thursday, 2 November 2023 Members of the UCD LGBTQIA+ community were invited to meet at the UCD Clubhouse. This meet-up is a reoccurring event scheduled every first Thursday of the month.
26 October 2023: Intersex Awareness Day
Celebrating Intersex Awareness Day is an opportunity to promote the inclusion of intersex people in our University and in society more broadly. The UCD LGBTI Subgroup are marking this day to highlight awareness and recognise intersex people in UCD. Find out more on the EDI website.
23 October 2023: Employee Wellbeing Day, O'Reilly Hall
The event was focused on the range of employee focused wellbeing policies, supports and networks, including those supported by EDI. A series of inspirational speakers, information seminars and stands covered s range of physical, mental and financial wellbeing supports UCD offers.
More information is available on the Wellbeing Day website (new window).
2023/24 EDI Training and Awareness Raising Programme
On 26 September the 2023/24 EDI Training and Awareness Raising Programme was launched in the latest VP for EDI Newsletter. The programme contains courses specifically tailored for our UCD community based on UCD's EDI strategic commitments and feedback from last year’s sessions. The programme is now live and includes a range of EDI-related face-to-face training and awareness-raising sessions as well as our EDI eLearning courses.
Could you please help to spread the word and promote this training in your areas and within your networks? Upcoming sessions are highlighted below. Colleagues can register now on the EDI Training and Events Calendar.
- Menopause coffee morning (18 October) is an informal virtual event open to all who are experiencing peri-menopause and menopause.
- Supporting a Colleague Through the Menopause (24 October) is aimed at managers to help them support colleagues.
- Being Aware of Our Biases is unconscious bias awareness training open to all employees (23 October.)
- Inclusive Recruitment – Managing Bias is unconscious bias awareness training specifically tailored for those who sit on interview panels (20 October, 7 and 13 November.)
1 June 2023: College of Science Pride Celebration Event 2023
UCD College of Science got Pride month off to an incredible start with a well-attended Pride Celebration event on Thursday 1st June. Read more about the event in our College of Science Pride Celebration Event 2023 article.
(opens in a new window)19 May 2023: World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
(opens in a new window)World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development is an annual (opens in a new window)UNESCO observational day that celebrates the richness of the world’s cultures on 21 May 2023, and the essential role of intercultural dialogue for achieving peace and sustainable development. We would like to invite you to some events that schools in UCD College of Science EDI Committee are organising on to recognise and celebrate the cultural backgrounds of our students and staff.
- 19 May 2023: The UCD School of Physics are hosting an Intercultural Coffee Morning at 11am in the R134 SCN Physics Common Room. Refreshments will be provided and people are invited to come along to socialise and learn about the cultures of others.
- 19 May 2023: The UCD School of Computer Science are hosting a Cultural Dialogue event at 5.30pm in the O'Neill Lounge in UCD Clubhouse. The event will see staff and PhD students share aspects of their culture in short presentations to each other, to encourage conversation and broaden understandings of the backgrounds of the people we work with each day. Food and drinks vouchers will be provided to those who attend either to present or socialise and learn about the cultures of others. Please fill in the (opens in a new window)Google Form by 15 May if you would like to attend, and if you want to present a 5-10 minute presentation on your culture/an aspect of your culture or background, please give more details in the form.
- 22 May 2023: The UCD School of Biology & Environmental Science Cultural Diversity Coffee Morning will be held on Monday, 22 May, at 10 am, just outside the kitchen in Science West. This event aims to celebrate the rich cultural heritage within the school and to support a worthy cause, the Immigrant Council of Ireland. To make the morning even more delightful, we will be hosting a bake sale, and we kindly request your contribution of delicious treats. Share your culinary delights by bringing treats from your home country. It's a chance to showcase the unique flavors and traditions that make our community diverse and vibrant. Any contribution, big or small, will be greatly appreciated.
Multicultural Employee Network of UCD (MENU)
The Multicultural Employee Network of UCD (MENU) aims to make International employees feel welcome, to help integrate them into the UCD Community and beyond, to provide a space for international employees to network, support members and exchange ideas with a focus on promoting cultural diversity and awareness in UCD. We now have over 200 members representing 50+ countries around the globe, making MENU the biggest employee Network in UCD. To join email menu@ucd.ie.
31 March 2023: People Manager Dignity & Respect Disclosure Training
This essential 1-day face-to-face Dignity & Respect training took place on 31 March to equip people managers with skills and knowledge to support those impacted by bullying, harassment or sexual misconduct.
30 March 2023: UCD Celebrating Neurodiversity and Creativity
To mark Neurodiversity Celebration Week, UCD hosted an in-person event exploring creativity and neurodiversity and Making UCD Neurodiversity Friendly Campus Project led by UCD EDI Neurodiversity Working Group. A panel of neurodivergent speakers shared their own experiences of working in filmmaking, comic book illustration and comedy as Gaeilge.
24 March 2023: Sustaining Accessibility in Mathematics
This event showcased the latest evidence-based developments in Mathematics Accessibility in Higher Education including the themes of Digital Accessibility using LaTeX, Addressing Mathematics Anxiety, Mathematical Resilience, the efficacy of text-to-speech technology in reducing barriers to inclusive reading for mathematics students in higher education. Read more...
UCD Employee Bereavement Support Group
The support group is intended for colleagues who want to learn new and supportive ways to reclaim moments of contentment and happiness while honouring those they have lost. Find out more about the support available at UCD EDI Bereavement Support Group.
13 March 2023: Menopause Conference
UCD EDI invited attendees to a national Menopause Conference “Time for Change in the Third-Level Sector” hosted by UCD for the third-level sector.
8 March 2023: International Women's Day
UCD celebrated International Women's Day on Wednesday, 8 March 2023, to celebrate women's achievements, raise awareness and take action for equality.
For International Women's Day, a conversation session between UCD Alumna Dr Lydia Foy and her lawyer, Bill Shipsey, UCD Alumni Awardee, on Lydia's legal battle to have her gender recognised in law.
1 March 2023: New Parent? Maternity Matters - Return to work
Practical tools for employees who recently returned from maternity/adoptive leave to make a confident return to work, including self-care, balancing work, managing guilt and setting boundaries with work and home.
11 February 2023: International Day of Women and Girls in Science
International Day of Women and Girls in Science is celebrated every year on 11 February to recognise the critical role women and girls play in science and technology. To mark the occasion this year, UCD community members were invited to an exhibition in the O’Brien Centre for Science that showcased the diverse range of talents, knowledge and hard work from women in Science.
The exhibition presented videos from the ‘Role Models in pSTEM’ project that was created to recognise positive role models for young women in the subjects of physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering. The videos on display in the O’Brien Centre highlighted the work of 8 role models who are making valued contributions to their Schools and disciplines. The exhibition therefore provided an opportunity to promote full and equal access to and participation in science for women and girls in UCD. By showing the videos of the role models the project leads, Dr Aoibhinn Ní Shúilleabháin, UCD School of Mathematics and Statistics and Associate Professor Catherine Mooney, UCD School of Computer Science, hope to encourage more young women to feel included and become aware of the many career paths and opportunities available to them in pursuing pSTEM subjects. Read more...
26 January 2023: Neurodiversity Masterclass Series
A webinar took place on 26 January 2023 with Associate Professor Sue Johnston Wilder from the University of Warwick to discuss: 'Maths Anxiety - A consequence of neurodiversity?'